When performing repairs, one of the most important stages preceding wallpapering is the alignment of the walls and their puttying. Wallpaper, even the most beautiful and expensive, pasted on a crooked wall, can spoil all the impressions of the repair, and even bring disappointment. It should be noted that the puttying process itself is quite laborious, but not so complicated, and therefore almost anyone can do it.
So, how to putty the walls under the wallpaper?
1. Choice of material and quantity
Before you putty the walls under the wallpaper, you need to decide on the choice of putty. The modern market provides us with a very wide range of building materials. There are many types of putties (glue, latex, acrylic, oil, PVA-based, etc.). To select the right material, you should carefully study all the information about each type, consult with the seller or other specialists. When ready for use, there are several types of putty:
- Dry mixes. They contain everything you need to perform puttying work.components: fillers, additives, binders. To work with such a putty, it must be diluted with water in the proportions indicated on the package. The advantage of dry mixes is that they do not shrink, and therefore can be used for the most delicate work. The disadvantage is that they require strict adherence to the specified proportions of water and mixture, as well as thorough mixing. The term of use of diluted putty usually does not exceed a day.
- Ready mixes. They can be immediately applied to the wall, as they are ready for use. The disadvantage is that after drying there is a slight shrinkage, and therefore it is better not to use ready-made mixtures for finishing and not to apply in a thick layer.
After choosing the material, you need to decide on its quantity. This is done by calculation method depending on the condition of the walls and the surface area to be puttied.
2. Preparatory stage
Before starting work, you need to prime the walls. This procedure must be performed before puttying the walls under the wallpaper, to ensure reliable adhesion of the putty layer to the wall surface.
3. Direct puttying
Now you can start puttying. If a dry mix is used, then before puttingty the walls under the wallpaper, it must first be prepared in sufficient quantities. The technology for applying putty is quite simple: using a trowel, the mixture is thrown onto the wall and then leveled with a spatula, moving it intoright-left and up-down direction, while applying pressure. You need to start work from one side of the wall and move towards the opposite direction.
And how to putty the corners of the walls? To putty internal corners, the mixture is applied on both sides of the corner, and then pressed into a sickle (special adhesive glass tape), previously pasted into the corner. It is very important to evenly distribute the putty between the walls. To putty external corners, you will need a metal corner, which must be cut in height. Putty is applied to the sides of the outer corners, and then the corner itself is pressed into it. After that, the corner is closed with an additional layer of putty.
You can also put more putty on the corner, and then after it is completely dry, treat this place with a wooden block wrapped in sandpaper.
4. Grinding
After the putty is completely dry (usually in a day), the wall must be sanded to get rid of unnecessary microscopic bulges.
After that, it is necessary to evaluate the result and, if necessary, re-putty.
That's it. Now you have learned how to putty walls. You can safely get to work - and you will succeed!
